1.5 days trip from LA
 

What would be a good destination for 1.5 days / 1 night trip from LA, in early June ? Some water fun, or wildlife watching, or just relaxing, but preferably where it is not too hot.

Road trip plane or train? What month?
I would take the Amtrak bus to Bakersfield and get on the San Joaquin to Fresno and rent a car and head north on 41 into the south entrance of Yosemite.

From and back to LAX. We can take a car if needed. Month is early June.

Yosemite will have been covered earlier, these are just the last 1.5 days of a longer trip.

1) You can't 'do' Yosemite in 1.5 days from LA

2) Even if you <i>could</i>, you probably wouldn't be able to find rooms.

Have you looked at Catalina? It might be tough to find a room at this short lead time. But 1.5 days on Catalina is a good taste. You wouldn't be able to see/do everything, but sea kayaking, flying fish boat, good restaurants/bars, hiking, lots of other things -and no car necessary.

I'd go to Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez Valley.

Catalina Island looks like a good idea, but how I would get there and back from LAX, without spending a good deal of my 1.5 day time budget ?

Maybe you should specify on how much travel time you are allowing for.

Santa Barbara is a great option. The other is to go down to one of the Orange County Beaches and stay the night. I thought Newport looked fun to see more of, shop, stroll around because we were just there for the day.

You take a ferry

http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/a...sportation.php

All hotels on Catalina Island seem to require 2 nights stay minimum. And Santa Barbara is covered by out tour. Does San Diego make sense for 1.5 days ?

How about Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead or coastal Orange County (Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, etc.)?

Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead may be a good option. Just afraid it could be a bit boring for a tourist from afar, as it looks to me like a weekend destination for locals. Which of the 2 lakes would be best for kayaking ?

Where is your last stop on your longer trip if Yosemite is already covered?
Have you been to Mammoth Lake?

Lake Arrowhead is beautiful and you can boat/fish/water ski on the Lake (but make sure your hotel has access to the lake).

San Diego is approx a 2 hour drive. You could get an early start and either spend the day in La JOlla (the La Jolla Shores has kayaking, snorkeling, diving, etc. thru local dive shops). Or spend the day at Balboa Park - where there is the SD Zoo, and numerous museums (photography, art, science, natural history, etc.).

For relaxation, marine life viewing, and water fun (heads up, the Pacific is cold, even in the summer) head to Terranea Resort (Terranea.com)on the cliffs in Palos Verdes, about 30 minutes south of LAX. Suggestions for San Diego, Arrowhead and Catalina are good but with only 1.5 days I think most of your time would be spent in transit.

Ojai or Idyllwild

San Diego is only a 2 hour drive from LA so if you left early in the morning you'd have plently of time for a full day and evening and part of a second day in San Diego.

Between a mountain resort like Lake Arrowhead or Idylwild I'd pick Lake Arrowhead because the drive is much faster and easier. Idylwild (at least the last time we went up which has been about 10 years) it was the same gruelling and slow drive up.